The subject matter herein relates generally to electrical connector assemblies, and more particularly to electrical connector assemblies having cables loaded into the assemblies.
Various electronic systems, such as those used to transmit signals in the telecommunications industry, include connector assemblies with electrical wires arranged in differential pairs. One wire in the differential pair carries a positive signal and the other wire carries a negative signal intended to have the same absolute magnitude, but at an opposite polarity. An RJ-45 electrical connector is one example of a connector used to transmit electrical signals in differential pairs. The electrical connector may either be a plug or an outlet jack that is terminated to the end of a cable having individual wires.
In some known electrical connector assemblies, a housing of the assembly includes a central passageway that receives a cable loaded into the housing. The central passageway ends at a structure extending across the central passageway. For example, the housing may include crossed bars that extend across the passageway to prevent the cable from being loaded too far into the housing. The bars typically extend completely across the passageway. The crossed bars define several smaller openings through which the differential pair wires of the cable may be loaded, or laced, through. The wires are placed through the smaller openings defined by the bars and are terminated to one or more contacts located in the housing on the opposite side of the bars.
But, in order to ensure that the wires are aligned with the proper contacts in the housing, the cable and wires must be aligned with the corresponding smaller openings defined by the bars. That is, the wires must be aligned with the openings that are close to the contacts to which the wires are terminated. If the wires are not aligned with the smaller openings defined by the bars prior to loading the cable into the housing, the wires may not be able to be laced through the smaller openings and terminated to the correct contacts. As a result, the cable and wires must be repeatedly removed from and loaded into the housing and re-aligned with the smaller openings until the wires are aligned with the proper openings. The repeated removal and realignment of the cable and wires adds increased time and complexity in assembling the connector assemblies. Thus, a need exists for an improved connector assembly that reduces the complexity in lacing wires of a cable through the housing of the connector assembly.